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Question regarding expired meds?
My mom and I noticed following my grandmother's death that many of her medications ranging from OTCs such as Tylenol, anthistimines, and laxatives to various pain medication prescriptions had long passed their expiration dates, some by several years. We disposed of all of the medications, but since she more than likely continued to take many of them, were curious as to the actual 'shelf life' of OTC and prescription medications. Are they safe? And do they lose their potency or effectiveness over time? She died of natural causes so none of them contributed to her death, we were just curious if something like Tylenol would still be effective several years after it's expiration date. Thank you in advance for your input!
2 Answers
- keikoLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
***Read the article I cite. According to it, it's "possible" what she did was OK.
It depends on the medication. Generally, the company picks the last date they can be sure, if the medicine is kept under the conditions asked for (between 50 and 75 degrees, for example) that it is still at peak effectiveness. This doesn't mean it won't work after that date, just that it is more likely not to work as well. I would assume that if it is out of date, it won't harm you if there are changes in the ingredients over time, but that would depend on what the product is.
Check your own medicine cabinet. It's amazing how many of the products are well past their use by dates. Even though I check about once a year or whenever I think about it, I still find products that expired more than a year ago. When we did our first winnowing, we threw out most of what we had on hand. (After I read the article I mention below, I think I may be hasty. The article did say that if you want to be 100% sure, sure something that's still within the use by date).
Source(s): ***This article says that manufactures are required to put on an expiration date, so they pick one; however, when the military conducted a study, they found 90% of the more than 100 drugs they tested were effective even after 15 years. There wasn't a list of what they tested, tho. https://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update1... - GailLv 45 years ago
TAKE ALL YOUR ANTIBIOTICS WHEN THEY'RE PRESCRIBED!!!!!! Stopping when you feel better may let the infection come back, but likely resistant -- if you stop when you've killed off MOST of them and don't feel the few left... and then the resistant few left survive and start reproducing and make you sick all over again, but with a bug less likely to respond to the medicine you just took. Or, you might spread it to someone who doesn't have what antibodies you built up in your bout with it -- and again, it's on its way to becoming a resistant "superbug" that may or may not respond to antibiotics. It's not nice to hurt or kill people because you want some leftover meds or were lazy about keeping up with them. Generally these days, the doctor will culture the bacteria to test resistances -- not all bugs respond to the same meds, particularly if you habitually pop the same ones (you may become a breeding ground for resistant bacteria as noted above). It is far better to see a doctor and be properly treated. And of course the home remedies for prevention: lots of fluids, consume cranberries or cranberry juice, wipe front to back, and pee right after sex.
